22 NEW ZEALAND NEUROPTERA. 



and its habits, when thus occupied, are very interesting 

 and remarkable. 



In the first place the male insect seized the female 

 round her neck by means of his anal forceps, the two 

 dragon-flies flying about for some time connected in this 

 way and forming together a straight line. Later on the 

 pair settled on a firm object, the male still holding the 

 female in the same manner as before. Finally the male 

 drew the female slightly towards him, by arching his 

 abdomen, and the female at the same time bent her 

 body downwards and forwards, its extremity coming in 

 contact with the special organ situated on the second 

 segment of the male's abdomen. A connection is un- 

 doubtedly thus established, and I have not the slightest 

 doubt that the true copulative organs of the male are 

 actually situated on the second segment of the abdomen, 

 as is now generally stated by naturalists. The insects 

 remained connected in this way for five or ten minutes, 

 and I observed several pairs thus engaged. 



When pairing was accomplished the process of egg- 

 laying at once began. During this operation the male 

 still retained hold of the female by means of his anal 

 claspers, the two insects resuming the "straight line" 

 position. After selecting the stem of some water-plant, 

 or similar object extending downwards beneath the 

 water, the female slowly moved backwards along the 

 stem towards the water, pulling the male after her. 

 First the extremity of her body came in contact with the 

 w y ater ; afterwards both insects continued to move back- 

 wards, until the whole of the female was submerged except 

 her thorax and the tips of her wings. At this time the 

 female frequently struck the extremity of her body against 

 the stems and leaves of the submerged portions of the 

 plant. This action was no doubt actual oviposition, though 

 I was unable to positively prove it. The female still 

 continued to move backwards until she was at last wholly 

 submerged and the male's abdomen half in the water. 

 At this stage the male loosened his hold and the female 

 went still deeper into the water alone, and did not return 

 to the surface for at least thirty minutes. After remaining 

 out of the water for a few minutes, the female climbed 

 down below the surface by herself, and in about fifteen 

 minutes I lost sight of her amongst the watercress in the 

 bed of the stream. I saw, however, several other pairs 

 in which the female was egg-laying and partially sub- 

 merged, but was not able to watch these for a very 



